Playground slide



p 1949. 5. J. PODVINECZ ET AL 2,482,637

' PLAYGROUND SLIDE Filed Jan. 17, 1946 s Sheets-Sheet 1 BY William J'Fapa ATTORNEY Sept. 20, 1949. 5. J. PODVINECZ ET AL 2,482,637

PLAYGROUND SLIDE Filed Jan. 17, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 III/ll A TTOR/VEY p 2 1949.- 5. J. PODVINIECVSZ ETAL 2,482,637

' PLAYGROUND SLIDE Filed Jan. 17, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 T1 I Q0 J4 J3 15 1 15 E 15 J0 17 A TTORNEY Patented Sept. 29, 1949 PLAYGROUND SLIDE Stephen J. Podvinecz, New York, and William J. Papa, Bayside, N. Y.; Dorothy Parry Podvinecz administratrix .of said Stephen J.- Podvinecz,

deceased Application January 17, 1946, Serial No. 641,680

Our invention relates to slides for recreational purposes and in particular to the type of device commonly installed in playgrounds and kindergarten areas.

Recreational slides include in general a ladder portion and a slide portion. The slide portion is trough shaped and comprises a floor with generally parallel upstanding side pieces. Usually, the latter structure is made of non-splinterable wood such as maple, and in some cases metal sheeting is employed. Ordinarily, a satisfactory surface such as that provided by maple may be objectional for the short life this lumber leads when exposed to weather; metal is also objectional because of the burns it can cause. Thus, the preferred wooden structure has always required substantial and frequent maintenance. Furthermore, the recent scarcity and increased cost of materials have indicated the need for improving recreational slides so as to reduce maintenance cost from the viewpoint of both material and labor.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved form of recreational slide.

It is another object to provide a recreational slide requiring less. frequent maintenance than conventional slides.

It is also an object to provide a recreational slide on whichrepair and maintenance operations may be readily performed.

Another object is to provide a recreational slide offering safety features over more conventional arrangements.

Briefly stated, our invention contemplates a slide in which the upstanding side pieces have grooves in their opposed surfaces to accommodate the floor material employed. Thus, installation of the floor surfaces may be made by inserting a sheet of floor material in both grooves at one end of the slide and by sliding this piece into position. The floor sheeting is preferably held at the top end of the slide, and a flashing may conceal the means employed to secure the floor surface to the frame of the slide. In complete form, the invention includes means for securing the flashing to a surface other than the sliding surface.

In the drawings which show, for illustrative purposes only, a preferred form of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a complete recreational slide incorporating features of our invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the slide of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial transverse section of the slide portion of our improved arrangement;

1 Claim. (01. 27.2-56.5)

of details pertaining to means for securing floorsurfacing material'to our slide and for installing a flashing; and a a Fig. 5 is a. fragmentary side elevation of features shown in Fig. '4. l

The slide 'comprises'generally a ladder 5 and a slide 6. These members are rigidly interconnected in the form shown, and a locking pin 1 is employed for this purpose. In the preferred form illustrated. the slide portion is built on a "frameworkcomprisinga series of cleats 8 and a pair of upstanding side pieces 9 rigidly secured thereto. A smooth bed is provided by longitudinally extending slat members l0 secured to cleats 8 and preferably spaced slightly from each otherto allow'fordimensional changes due to varying Weather-'- conditions. Side pieces 9 are provided with grooves H extendingthe full length Fig. i is a partially broken-away plan view e ofthe slide and'contiguous to slats l0. Grooves II are socut as to accommodate fl00r-surfacing means l2 having a-non-splinterable exposed surface. Preferably, floor-surfacing means l2 comprises a single sheet of processed material, such as Tempered Presdwoodfplastic, or the like. Thus, it is clear that the floor-surfacing member may be installed quickly merely by entering the sheet 12 into one end of grooves II and by sliding it the full length oftlie slide between the grooves.

Frequently, recreational slides are formed with "a curved surface near the lower end, as illustrated by the side elevation of Fig. 2. For such slides we recommend that the single sheet which comprises floor-surfacing means I2 be relatively flexible. When materials having this property are employed, it will be clear that installation, or removal and replacement, of a floor surface can be an extremely simple operation. If relatively inflexible material is employed, there may be severe binding of sheeting l2 with grooves H at the curved part of the slide. Of course, the relatively frictionless surface of sheet l2 will help to reduce this binding action, but, as indicated, we prefer that the floor material be sufiiciently flexible to conform readily to the contour of the slide.

Another feature of our invention appears from the relatively simple manner in which the floor surface I2 is securely held in its installed position. In the form illustrated, this securing is accomplished by means of screws [3 extending a simple flashing to overstand the securing means 53. In the form shown, this flashing is a single piece I4 of sheet metal extending substantially the full width of the slide and having at its upper end a portion bent back so as to overlap the upper end of slats Ill. The bent-back portion comprises two relatively flat surfaces. Ehe first of these surfaces l5 forms a more acute angle with the floor surface than does the essentially normal (shown partially beveled) upper end iii of slats ill, and the second of these surfaces 11 extends generally parallel with the main surface of flashing l4.

Flashing i4 is secured to the slide by means i8 urging surface 15 into binding relation with slats It. It will be clear that the more sharply acute angle between surface l5 and the main surface of flashing [4 provides in cooperation with securing means IS an effective means for inherently urging the main surface of the flashing into constant close relation with the floor surface [2. The tighter one makes securing means Hi the more the main body of the flashing tends to rotate (clockwise, in the sense shown in Fig. 5) about the intersection of surfaces 15 more intimately the main surface of the flashing is forced into contact with floor surface l2.

Further to provide for simple maintenance of a recreational slide we propose that side pieces 9 be constructed of two materials. main-body portion is wouldbe. more permanently installed and of a material to withstand pr n exposure to severe weather conditions. The material selected should be relativelynon-splinterable; but, since relatively light contact is made by the user with this portion of the slide, nonsplinterability is. not considered to be a major factor in choice of material. However th us r frequently relies primarily on the upper or rail edge of side piece 9 for his own stability. For this reason, we prefer to employ a. piece of relatively non-splinterable material '20 fitted onv this edge along substantially the entire length of the slide. Since it is realized, that some non-splinterable Woods and other materials may not have substantial life in comparison with that of the main frame of the slide (particularly in vieweof the exposed location of these pieces), we have maderovision for installins the members for ready removal. In the form shown member 20 is and H and, hence, the r The lower or v provided with a groove H to fit in upstanding tongue 22 formed on side piece 19. Members 20 and [9 may be secured as by countersunk screws (not shown).

It will be seen that we have provided a simple form of slide which provides members that may very readily be-removed for servicing or for replacement. The arrangement shown provides safety to the individual user in that there is no chance to snag clothing on recessed screws or nails or on splinterable material. Our slide has been described particularly with reference to a floor material of the pressed-wood variety, but it will be understood that other sheet floor material could alternatively be employed.

While we have described our invention in considerable detail and have illustrated a preferred form, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

We claim:

A recreational apparatus, comprising longitudinally and vertically extending side members, said side members being provided with parallel. open-ended, longitudinally extending inner grooves near their lower edges, said grooves extending continuously for the full length of said side members, a supporting framework carried by and connecting said side members, and a slide of flexible material positioned on said framework and extending for the full length of the apparatus and having its outer edges positioned in said grooves in the side members, whereby said slide is insertable in or removable from said grooves through said open ends thereof, without any disassembly of said side members.

STEPHEN J. PODVINECZ. WILLIAM J. PAPA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: v

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 7 Date 1,142,996 TothilI June 15, 1915 1,161,098 Willour Nov. 23, 1915 1,274,824 Wallace Aug. 6, 1918 1,627,970 Held May 10, 1927 

